Michigan Warriors coach says Flint team will take 'sour taste' into offseason after last-place finish

Moe Mantha and the Michigan Warriors concluded their third season in Flint, missing the playoffs for the first time.MLive.com file photo

FLINT, MI -- The Michigan Warriors concluded their season March 30 with a 19-32-9 record, finishing in last place in the North American Hockey League North Division and out of the playoffs for the first time since coming to Flint three years ago.

Warriors coach and General Manager Moe Mantha said that although the season was expected to be a rebuilding process, the end result left a “sour taste” with the team.

“You look back at our season and we lost 24 games by one goal, there’s a lot of could-of, would-of, should-ofs in there,” Mantha said. “What I said to our club when we wrapped things up over the weekend was that while it’s disappointing that we didn’t make the playoffs and it’s disappointing what our record ended up being, it will be more disappointing if we don't take something away from this.

“Our club has a sour taste right now and the question we left with our players to carry with them through the summer is to think every day, what are they doing to get better?”

Barring any unforeseen departures and other roster movements, the Warriors are set to return all but two players from this year’s team -- which was among the youngest in the NAHL.

Martin Gruse, who became the organization’s all-time leading scorer this season, is gone, but second leading scorer Zack Szajner (13 goals, 19 assists) is scheduled to return, as are forwards Connor Lyons (12 goals, 11 assists) and A.J. Marcinek (11 goals, 9 assists). The Warriors also return key defenseman Jake Faiella and starting goalie Trevor Gorsuch. Backup goalie Dillon Kelley is also likely to return.

“We’ve got a strong core that we think can make us a pretty good team next year, but that’s only going to happen if everybody puts the work in,” Mantha said. “We had a lot of young guys playing junior hockey for the first time, or at least at our level for the first time, and there’s a learning curve with that. If we do the right things in the off-season, I think we’ll be a pretty good club.”

Outside of the team’s overall finish, Mantha pointed to the Warriors' 9-14-7 home record as a key shortcoming and one that will be a priority to improve next season.

“That is one thing that really sticks out to me, that our home record was not nearly good enough,” Mantha said. “We believe we’ve got a good product and we want to make sure we keep bringing quality hockey to the city of Flint, and that’s something we’ve got to look at and address because our home record wasn’t where it needs to be. You’ve got to do well in your home games to be successful in our league.”

The Warriors could see some adjustments to their roster after the NAHL prospect draft in June, but until then Mantha and his staff will continue to evaluate their current roster and what areas are most critical to improve next season.

“This is a time where as an organization we sit back and evaluate everything,” Mantha said. “We’ll sit back and look at where our strengths are, where our weaknesses are and what needs to be done to make sure we get better.”

Contact Ross at rmaghiel@mlive.com and follow him on Twitter @Maghielse.